Theft Susceptibility -- and what to do about it

[DrkBlue]

Cover your vin plate on dash so they can't easily make a key

Without sounding dumb, what do you do to cover your VINs on the dash?

I ask because I used to use baseball caps, but they ended up with some funky sun fading and sometimes would slide away. Silly putty? A few passes with tape?

 

[TobyU]

I find that a business card fits nicely and stays in place.

 

[stricnine]

You vin is etched into your back glass on the rear hatch as well. lol

 

[Motorcity muscle]

Cover mine with thin blue line sticker, my truck has no vin on rear glass

 

[m3olsen]

New York State, in their infinite wisdom, puts your VIN on the registration sticker that has to be attached to the inside of your windshield, so covering the dash plate accomplishes nothing. Grrr.

 

[Calidad]

New York State, in their infinite wisdom, puts your VIN on the registration sticker that has to be attached to the inside of your windshield, so covering the dash plate accomplishes nothing. Grrr.

Ca has started doing something similar due to registration tag theft. But its not your vin.


We had a few car thefts in our small town with three roads / in /out. The town residents raised money to buy the PD camera tech which is at each exit/entry point. A neighbor had his 2016 Prius stolen. It was recovered 2hours later thanks to the cameras. Turned out the owner had a extra key made a month earlier and the locksmith cut a copy and sold it to this crook. The crook walked up got in and drove off.

Year before we had 3 new less than yr old vehicles stolen. Dodge and Mercedes. The thief was caught in town because the town next to us had plate reading cameras and he drove through to our town in a car with stolen / fake plates on it at 3am. Our PD were given a heads up within minutes and he was stopped in our neighborhood, three vehicle keys were found one actually was a match to a neighbor’s Mercedes. Turned out he had three contacts at different dealerships that fed him vin and vehicle info like addresses. He would scope it out then pay them to cut a key. Then he would go get the vehicle.

The only way modern vehicles get stolen today is with a key.

We have a popular walking loop at a lake. The “women” there walking the path have a bad habit of leaving wallets and even keys in their cars. We had one lady return to find her car gone. Police called, filed a report and officer gave her a ride home only to arrive to her car parked out front of her house! Garage door was open. House ransacked and her husband’s brand new 911 S was gone! He was traveling for work.

The 911 had GPS the PD found it 20 minutes later in an industrial park on a lift with 5 guys getting ready to dismantle it. Huge chop shop bust. Never found her house stuff stolen

 

[Redstripe19]

Relay theft is a way to steal modern cars without the key. I don’t think it’s prevalent in the Midwest yet. Some cars are way easier to steal though. I had a 2001 F350 stolen out of my work parking lot at 3:00 pm one day last year. I hasn’t driven it to work for months then did one day. Drove it again the next day and guys in a white Excursion boosted it. It was beat up with 195,000 but had a gooseneck hitch so they probably took it to steal trailers.

 

[JExpedition07]

One of my uncles company trucks got stolen a few years back, was a F-450 King Ranch. Power company called the office a week later and asked why his truck was in their main fleet lot.....then they told them the truck was stolen. Key was in it and nothing was damaged or stolen when he got it back. That was bizarre.

 

[aggiegrad05]

Because, apparently, me forgetting to carry around my locking lug key was not already enough of a problem, Ford has developed a concept that 3D prints a locking lug based on my voice. So now the dealer can’t get them off when I lose the key either. HAHA!


https://apple.news/A8Bh0gNBeSCqfVXSpvzrxIg

 

[KenK]

Yes please, we need a cargo cover for the MAX! My GM SUVs have roller shades which work reasonably well.